@Cheeringsection - thank you. I’m not sure it’s up for consideration anymore… may be “too far” now… this kid is going to make me crazy!
@Anxious711 My S17 is having a rather horrid junior year as well so I feel your pain. He is our 4th and to some extent that does help. Our issues are likely quite different as my son tends to skip most/all homework but the end result and grades are the same.
APUSH is a ton of work, and a time suck. We recalibrated this week and he’s dropped down to regular US History in the hopes that he will actually do the HW in the 4 other AP classes. For him, I question (and questioned at registration) what benefit APUSH really gave him, both for apps and AP credit. That said, that may not even be something you can consider depending on where you are at in the semester.
I’ve been working with our HS and get a lot of the same “he’s fine”, etc etc etc but you know better and trust your gut. I wish I’d listened to mine earlier and not the teachers/guidance counselor. In their defense, compared to many, she IS fine.
I will also tell you this. My S17 dropped out of AP calc after 1st semester senior year, had to email all of his colleges and tell them (ok I made him but still). Our S11 struggled with math all through HS. Both made it to college, one is a graduate and the other doing fine (better than fine actually!). It will work out even if it doesn’t feel like it right now.
So, what can you do? Vent here. Freak out here. If she is really trying and doing her best and the grades are low…let it go. If she isn’t trying, or is avoiding, that’s a different issue. Be there for her. Support her. This, a class, or two or a semester or a year, does not define her or what she will be. At the end of the day, a happy, healthy child is far far more important than a gpa.
And visit the 3.0-3.4 thread. It helps.
@eandesmom sorry to hear your S is having a cruddy time right now. Hopefully he can straighten it out and get back on track. I am glad son decided to stick with honors History instead of APush. I don’t think he’d have the time to give it his all, nor the desire. He would rather work on math, physics, stats, and I’m sure he would’ve gotten a mediocre grade in APush.
Tonight son19 is going to a winter dance and looking forward to that. He has a day off from running, tomorrow they have a big league meet. He’s got some homework, drivers ed, sat prep session to do as well, so no rest for the weary!
He had a good interview last night with the Boston tech school, and the coach is coming to see him in a few weeks at a meet in downtown. They talked about grades, test scores, majors, interests etc. and son19 said it was a good call and not too stressful so that was good. There is virtually no slack given to student athletes there regarding grades/test scores. Maybe a teeny it in English/reading section, but you certainly better have a top notch Math score.
Son realized he’d better get cranking on his SAT prep stuff, no pressure, lol! I still reminded him he has about a 3% chance at best case and I think he understood.
@RightCoaster has S visited Boston tech school? I hear it’s got a very specific feel. Think he’d like that?
APUSH seems to the bane of every junior’s existence (well, not mine because he didn’t take it!) I doubt there are many intro US history college classes that have even half the workload of APUSH.
@RightCoaster Good luck to him on the next SAT round! So he just needs a 750 or so on EBRW instead of a 780? Yes, no pressure there!
@homerdog yes he has visited. He spent a day there last summer. He liked it a lot, had nothing bad to say about it. He really liked their maker space set up, and tons of kids sign up to learn how to 3d print, drill things, laser cut, etc. h likes that kind of stuff. He’s not fussy about buildings and landscaping. He thought the sports zone was cool and well done. Liked access to the city. There were kids from all over so he liked that. I personally don’t like the campus, nor would I want to go there, but he has his own thoughts on things. I think deep down he like WPI better, but the “name brand” draw is appealing to kids.
@eh1234 that’s about right, LOL! No problem!!
Like I said, 3% chance Fantasy Island best case scenario. I’m not going to stress out over that one.
If you think APUSH is a time suck during the high school year, my D19 took it online over the summer. 36 weeks of school crammed into 8 weeks of summer school! And to top it all off, since she isn’t being prepared for the AP test during the school year (like the people taking it now), she is strongly considering not even taking it.
So strange because APUSH is the easiest and most relaxing of D’s 5 AP classes. She has a lovely and kind male teacher the kids refer to as ‘Dad’. She does not have a ton of homework for the class, but they do have a test every week which D says is crazy easy as long as you do the reading. So interesting how the same class can be so different.
With that being said, this Junior year has been downright awful for D, for several reasons. I have vented here about it already too, and yes, it helps so much having all of you to go through it with, but I’m sorry anyone has to struggle.
I’m hoping she will agree to take Calc & Physics honors next year instead of AP. She’s always been very good in math, but not a math whiz… and this year she had a math teacher she did not see eye to eye with (I am being kind here), we finally had her class switched a few weeks ago. She is much happier now about math, but AP Chem is the class that is killing her. She is trying SO HARD, studying like crazy, but cannot get a grasp on it. It’s got her so down on herself.
Which brings me to the college search issue. With lower grades this year, she feels defeated. Thinking she hasn’t a chance at the higher end schools. In state schools are really economical but HUGE- which honestly isn’t a great fit for D. Out of state schools she likes are either slim chance for anyone or out of budget for us.
APUSH has been ok for my d19. It’s not as comfortable for her as math and science, but it’s doable. She doesn’t mind the high level of work when it’s not primarily subjective grading on inferences.
It’s AP Lang that been the downer for her. Again, not because of work quantity. But for example… the midterm was AP exam style with reading passages and multiple choice answers and then an essay. They have have done very little of this kind of MC in class (they had a practice version at the beginning of the school year) and have focused most of their time on essay writing and novels. She knew right away she did terrible on the MC (as did pretty much everyone she knew and observed reacting to it) but felt ok with the essay. Grades are in for report cards and the teacher still hasn’t gotten to grading the essay portion. So the midterm consisted of skills she hasn’t even worked with the kids on. That’s the kind of thing that makes my d dislike humanities.
As for college search, she had her first group meeting with the GC to discuss college search. (They have decided to have weekly group meetings with 10 or so kids and the GC) He opened by asking what they thought was the first thing to look for in a college. She said she didn’t volunteer and answer but expected it would be to look for colleges that offer your intended major. She said instead he talked about comfort levels with size of college. She’s pretty much decided he isn’t going to be all that helpful.
@mom2twogirls That final was probably an AP practice test. Our kids had MC and essay for the final as well but they’ve practiced both over and over again already. And they are always old AP exams. They are tough but all of the kids seem to be getting better and better with practice. I would have your D ask the teacher if it makes sense for her to get a Barron’s AP Lang book or look for practice tests online. The only way to get better at these is to take the tests and then find the answer explanations. My understanding is that they are similar, yet harder, than the reading part of the new SAT.
@homerdog
We bought her a review book, but not early enough to really practice the MC before this test. We did t realize soon enough what the midterm would be and assumed it would be what they had been doing in class.
It was definitely old AP exams, which was partly why she felt ok with the essay. She had seen the essay question the day before online. She hadn’t read the example essay with it (she had already read others) but remembered the question because she thought it was interesting.
They haven’t practiced the reading/MC in class. Interestingly enough, d19 met with her GC right after the test to talk about next year’s course selection. He asked about the AP Lang midterm and d said she was frustrated that so much of the test was reading/MC even though that haven’t done any in class and hadn’t been taught strategies or anything for it the way they had been for the essay. She thinks he might have said something about that to the teacher because the next class, the teacher asked all the students if they wanted her to spend more time on those aspects and d said many kids in the class emphatically said yes. The teacher told them she would do more but reminded them that the essay will effect their AP exam grade more (ie she went over how they could miss quite a few MC and still get a 3+ on the AP)… which would be a fine answer if her midterm didn’t 100% grade them on the reading/MC that she hadn’t spent time on.
When d was going over the practice MC with the book we had bought, she was getting frustrated by having to identify terms that they have never discussed in class before.
One week till ACT. She’s a little upset because she’ll be missing a vocal jazz competition for it (there will be more, but this is the “fun” one). I suggested that she also skip cheering for the basketball game the night before. It’s an away game, so she’d be home after 10 pm and need to leave by 7 am for ACT. She’s not sure because “L is already upset I am missing jazz”. (L is a cheerleader too.) In my opinion there are plenty of cheerleaders and some of them miss games frequently. And L is bossy. Would you make your kid stay home from the game the night before ACT?
Ugh, I’ve been fighting the flu. I had forgotten about the ACT. Well, not forgotten, but I haven’t been pushing the study schedule. Kiddo has theoretically been studying on his own so we shall see how well he does.
The 24 hour play competition has been pushed out, originally scheduled in two weeks, now it will be in April. I am bummed because I wanted the kiddo to be one of the writers, then take the play that he wrote and edit it to submit in the Princeton 11th grade Playwright competition. Kiddo writes well but doesn’t finish his plays, I thought if he had a rough draft from the 24 hour play jam he could refine it and have something to submit.
He has 3 or 4 unfinished bits that might serve for the competition. If he focuses on that. Maybe.
@SunnyFlorida22 I am so sorry your D is having such a rough year. It’s not pretty here either.
I have always told my kids as long as they are working hard and doing their best, the grade doesn’t matter. I believe that. I want them happy and healthy and to have a good work ethic, to fight through adversity and ask for help when needed. Grades, in and of themselves, do not define them and its our job to help them see past that.
Easier said than done! I don’t know what your D’s grades are like or what her target schools are to weigh in on options but there are lots of them out there with proper targeting and searching, and even merit $. It is hard if kids get hung up on a “name” or are competitive with friends etc but there really is a whole world out their for schools if they are willing to explore a bit.
Can she drop down to regular or honors Chem? Unless she’s a STEM kid, does she really need to be in the AP class? I would say the same thing for Calc and Physics. Unless she’s a STEM kid, even making it to calculus is good. Many a kid goes to college only having made it to pre-calc. My S17 dropped out of AP Calc after first semester and while it felt risky at the time, it was the right thing on every level.
@bjscheel - yes I would definitely keep D home the night before the ACT! Even if she doesn’t go to bed until 11 or 12 (my kids find it impossible on weekends to go to sleep early), she’s at least resting, not stressing and dealing with outside stimulation.
@bjscheel I would let my kid make their own choice about whether to cancel an obligation the night before the test, without input from the bossy friend.
Some kids may be better off keeping busy and not thinking about it the day before (in which case going to a basketball game might be fine), some kids might want to go to bed at 9, some kids might insist on last minute cramming, etc. Both of you probably know what the best scenario is for her. (My own kid was out with friends the night before and home by 11, and that was fine for him).
@eh1234 I completely agree. I think that it helps to decrease the stress of the test, but it purely is a personal decision .
Mr. InfiniteWaves and I are realizing a dream tonight. Both S19 and S21 are attending the winter dance at school. No dates. Meeting up with friends. As such, we have deemed S19 the driver for both of them.
We have dinner reservations and no curfew to pick up kids. Wheeeeeeeeeee!!! 
Hope everyone is enjoying their weekends.
@Infinitewaves That’s great! Have fun!
We just had an empty nest for a week and realized tonight that we forgot to actually do something while S19 was away. He’s on his way from the airport right now. Oh well! I’m looking for word to his two-word responses to my questions about his trip, haha.
My S19 is also taking the 2/10 test and I would think it’s reasonable to plan for it to be like a school night.